African Wild Dog vs. Asiatic Wild Dog (Dhole)

African Wild Dog vs. Asiatic Wild Dog (Dhole)

DESCRIPTION:African wild dogs are the size of medium domestic dogs. Their Latin name, Lycaon pictus, means "painted wolf-like animal." Their coats are
mottled in shades of brown, black and beige. They have large, rounded ears and dark brown circles around their eyes. The dogs differ from wolves and other dogs
in that they have four toes instead of five.

SIZE:

The average African wild dog weighs between 37 and 80 pounds and
measures 24 to 30 inches high.

POPULATION:

Between 2,000 and 5,000 of these dogs remain in the wild, mostly in
game preserves or national parks.

LIFESPAN:

African wild dogs can live up to 10 years.

RANGE:

African wild dogs are only found in Africa south of the Sahara
Desert.

HABITAT:

Savannas, grasslands and open woodlands are the preferred habitats of
African wild dogs.

African wild dogs live and hunt in groups called packs. Packs
typically include an alpha (dominant) male and female, their offspring and other related members. Historically, more than 100 dogs gathered in packs during
spring migrations, but today the average pack of African wild dogs contains approximately 10 members. Unlike other canine species, packs of wild dogs
frequently contain more male members than female members.

The dhole (pronounced "dole") is also known as the Asiatic wild dog, or red dog. It is about the size of a German shepherd, but looks more like a
long-legged fox. Dholes are classified with wolves, coyotes, jackals, and foxes in the
taxonomic family Canidae.

Dholes vary in color from charcoal gray to rust red to sandy beige, depending on their habitat. Their tails are brushy and fox-like, often with a
black tip. These wild dogs usually have white feet, bellies, and chests, but not always. Adults have long tails and rounded ears, and males tend to be larger
and heavier than females. They are also very good at adapting to their surroundings, like most dog species, and can be found in all sorts of
different habitats. They also maintain very large territories-up to 34 square miles (88 square kilometers)! One of the reasons for keeping such a large
home range is the need to find prey to eat.

The dhole is an unusual dog for a number of reasons, though. It doesn't fit neatly into any of the dog subfamilies (wolves and foxes, for instance).
Dholes have only two molars on each side of their lower jaw, instead of three, and have a relatively shorter jaw than their doggie counterparts. Also, females
have more teats than other canid species and can produce up to 12 pups per litter.

Both these dogs have extremely high success rate for catching prey, are extremely territorial and can take down prey that few other predators would dare touch.
However, I would lean slightly more towards the dhole based on observations and various accounts although this match up is a very close call.

As to Dholes attacking Tigers, that doesn't appear to be the case anymore...either it was exceptionally rare or it simply has to do with Dhole packs being
a lot larger back then...similar to old reports of AWD...apparently in packs of up to 100...so large that Hyena clans stayed away and they vied for top spot
with Lions.

There are claims of AWD attacking Lions in the past. Likely neither Dholes nor AWDs did this with any regularity but it likely occurred (but most likely
females or unwell males were attacked).

The skills required for competence often are the same skills necessary to recognize competence. Incompetent people don't know they are incompetent and are
unable to recognize competence in others.

Actually Dholes weigh around 44lbs while AWDs weigh around 60lbs. Also while dholes stand 20 inches at the shoulder, AWD measure in at 30 inches. As you can
see the AWDs are larger than the dhole by a large margin. But you are right, it would be interesting to witness the size of an AWD pack before disease and
poaching pushed the AWD to the endangered status. Leaning towards the dhole because they seem more aggressive towards leopards and other predators, and for
their size, seem more ready to take on large prey, although AWDs have been witnessed to bring down impala single-handedly.